The Guardian Weekly (September 12, 2024) – The new issue features ‘The Long Shadow’ – Are Israel and Hezbollah headed for all-out war?…

In the space of a few days, the focus of Israeli military operations appears to have shifted decisively from Gaza in the south to Lebanon in the north.

A dizzying escalation between Israel and Hezbollah began last week with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies and culminated in a ferocious Israeli bombardment of alleged Hezbollah military targets, killing hundreds of people.

With Iran’s support, the Lebanon-based Shia militia has conducted a background conflict with Israel since the 1980s. Is this the intensification that finally signals all-out war?

Five essential reads in this week’s edition

1

Spotlight | The brutal truth behind Italy’s migrant reduction
A Guardian investigation reveals EU money goes to forces involved in abuse, leaving people to die in the desert and colluding with smugglers

2

Technology | Why aren’t humanoids in our homes yet?
The development of robots is dogged by technical and safety challenges. But the dream of a multipurpose domestic droid lives on, writes Victoria Turk

3

Feature | An Israeli and a Palestinian discuss 7 October, Gaza – and the future
Could Couples Therapy’s Orna Guralnik and former participant Christine try to understand one another without the conversation breaking down?

4

Opinion | Zelenskyy needs Biden to back his plan to win peace
In besieged Kharkiv, Timothy Garton Ash saw how Ukraine is approaching a perilous moment. To turn the tide, it needs to decisively knock back Russia

5

Culture | Chappell Roan on sexuality, superstardom and the joy of drag
She’s gone from obscurity to the A-list, but not without struggle. Kate Solomon talks to the singer about teenage angst and her queer inspirations

The Guardian Weekly (September 12, 2024) – The new issue features ‘The Hunt For Yahya Sinwar’ – Julian Borger On Israel’s Elusive Prime Target…

The last sighting of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who is widely accused of unleashing the Gaza war, was from a retrieved Hamas security video that was apparently recorded three days after the 7 October attack on Israel.

Since then an estimated 41,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in a furious and devastating Israeli bombing response. Yet the prime target Sinwar has remained at large and apparently unscathed.

1

Spotlight | Another apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump
Violence and instability have become a feature, not a bug, of US political life, writes Washington DC bureau chief David Smith

2

Environment | Darién Gap migration rush creates a pollution crisis
Isolated communities on the Colombia-Panama border are sounding the alarm over poisoned rivers and cultural erosion after a surge in migrants crossing their ancestral lands, finds Luke Taylor

3

Feature | The age of rage
Anger has come to def ine the public mood – felt in the posts of social media warriors and harnessed by populist agitators. Psychoanalyst Josh Cohen asks why are we so mad, and how can we navigate to calmer waters

4

Opinion | The return of border checks in Germany
The German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s border clampdown threatens the entire European project, argues Maurice Stierl – no wonder the continent’s rightwing populists are cheering

5

Culture | Michael Kiwanuka on faith, family and fulfilment
The Mercury prize-winning musician explains to Alexis Petridis how he went from being a ‘slight weirdo’ to wowing Glastonbury – and why he thinks more people are turning to religion

The Guardian Weekly (September 12, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Two Faces’ – Why the historical divide between Germany’s east and west could halt the rise of the AFD (Alternative for Germany)…

1
Spotlight | After the Grenfell Tower inquiry
Seven years after 72 people died in a tower block fire in west London, Robert Booth and Emine Sinmaz report on the damning public investigation into a wholly preventable tragedy.

2
Environment | The deep secrets of a Greenland glacier
Damian Carrington reports from Kangerlussuup glacier, where scientists are discovering new things about sediment banks that could slow the rate of rising seas.

3
Feature | The big click-off: how to win at Fantasy Premier League
With 10 million players, the virtual football game has become a global phenomenon. Tom Lamont gets the lowdown from the world’s best armchair managers.

4
Opinion | Why I’d pay to see Ticketmaster getting rinsed
After the Oasis ticket debacle, this much is clear, writes Marina Hyde: the “fan experience” is an excuse to be exploited while having to look grateful.

5
Culture | James McAvoy on class, comfort and carnage
The Scottish actor talks to Zoe Williams about marriage, therapy – and why Ken Loach would never cast him.